MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / September 3, 2000

RESERVE – The start of the Riverside-St. Charles Catholic game Thursdaynight was delayed a half an hour because of a lightning storm that knocked out the power to parts of Reserve.

Once the game got underway, the Rebels, ranked second in the state in Class 2A, unleashed their own lightning strikes that knocked out the Comets.

Riverside scored on plays of 45, 69 and 80 yards, rolling up 499 yards in offense in defeating St. Charles Catholic, 40-15, in the season opener forboth teams.

Britt Waguespack led the way for the Rebels, gaining 297 yards in total offense and scoring three touchdowns. Waguespack ran 12 times for 146yards and two touchdowns, caught three passes for 106 yards and another touchdown and returned a kickoff 45 yards.

Jared St. Amant added another 79 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries asRiverside rushed for 286 yards on 42 attempts. Damian Melancon completedfour of his eight passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Gary Entremontadded three catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

St. Charles Catholic was led by Jason Waguespack who completed 23-of-38passes for 230 yards and a touchdown. Phil Hoffman caught eight of thepasses for 85 yards. Doug Friloux carried 12 times for 74 yards. TheComets finished with 316 yards in offense, 86 on the ground.

Riverside struck quickly for the first score. Taking over at the Riverside 32,Waguespack swept left for a 20-yard gain with 15 yards tacked on for a face-mask penalty. Three plays later from the Comet 45, Waguespack wentup the middle, cut to the left side and went down the left sidelines, breaking a tackle by Matt Arceneaux at the 10 on his way in for the score. Melanconkept on an option to the left for the two-point conversion, making it 8-0 with 10:24 left in the first quarter.

St. Charles Catholic answered with a drive to the Riverside 30 behind runs of11 and eight yards by Friloux and a 19-yard pass from Waguespack to Hoffman. But on second-and-2 from the 30, John Champagne sackedWaguespack for an 11-yard gain and the Comets eventually were forced to punt.

Riverside took over at its 20 and started a 15-play drive that took 6:46 of the clock. An eight-yard run up the middle by St. Amant kept the drive aliveon fourth-and-4 from the Comet 44. An 18-yard pass from Melancon toWaguespack gave the Rebels a first down at the 16. St. Amant swept leftfor 15 yards to the 1 and three plays later, took it in on a dive up the middle.

The try for two failed, leaving it 14-0 with 51 seconds left in the first.

St. Charles Catholic again drove into Riverside territory on its nextpossession, driving to the 32 on completions of 18 yards to Bret Deroche and 14 yards to John Bordelon. But again the Rebels held with Waguespackthrowing incomplete to Toby Jacob in the end zone on fourth down.

The Rebels quickly struck back as Melancon threw a fade to Entremont on the left sidelines. Entremont took it in behind his defender at the Comet 49-yard line and was gone, completing the 69-yard scoring strike. The extrapoint was blocked by Jerry Gair, keeping it at 20-0 at the 8:50 mark of the second quarter.

St. Charles Catholic drove to the Riverside seven on the ensuing possessionas Waguespack found Bordelon for 16 yards and Hoffman for 14 and Friloux had a 10-yard run. But Ray Cella and Ryan Bugay combined to tackle Frilouxin the backfield at the 10 and Darius Nicholas was tackled at the 5 on fourth down after taking in a pass from Waguespack.

The Comets held the Rebels on the next possession and took over at the Riverside 32. Deroche made a sliding catch at the 15 on third down for a 17-yard gain. On the next play, Waguespack found Bordelon on the left side.Bordelon caught the ball inside the 5 and got inside the pylon for the score.

Friloux took it in off the left side for the conversion, cutting the deficit to 20-8 with 1:05 left in the half.

Riverside took only one play to answer. On first-and-10 from the 20,Melancon threw another fade to Waguespack on the left sidelines.

Waguespack hauled in the pass at the Riverside 44 and took it the rest of the way for the score. Entremont took it in on a reverse to the right side forthe conversion, making it 28-8 with 51 seconds left in the half.

Riverside made it 34-8 on its first possession of the second half. Takingover at the Rebels 15, St. Amant gained five and then Waguespack sweptright and took it down the sidelines before being taken down by Arceneaux at the Comet 35 after a 45-yard gain. Gains of eight and nine yards byWaguespack gave the Rebels a first down at the 12. Three plays later,Waguespack took an inside handoff up the middle for the score from eight yards out. The extra point was no good, leaving it 34-8 at the 5:37 mark ofthe third quarter.

Waguespack hit Hoffman on passes of seven and 11 yards and Jacob with one of eight yards to drive the Comets to the Riverside 21 on the next possession. But again the Rebels held with Joel Levin knocking down a pass byWaguespack on fourth down.

St. Charles Catholic got the ball right back as Derrick Gaubert recovered afumble by Michael Schoen at the Riverside 31. Friloux swept left on the firstplay for a first down at the 17. After a clip brought the ball back to the 29,Waguespack found Jacob for nine yards as the third quarter ended.

Waguespack went back to Jacob for 17 yards to the Riverside 3-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter. Todd Babin then bulled in off the leftside for the score. Waguespack added the extra point to make it 34-15 with11:21 remaining.

Riverside again answered as Waguespack took the ensuing kickoff at the goal line and returned it to the Riverside 45. St. Amant swept left for 23 yardsand a first down at the Comets 42. On the next play, Schoen foundEntremont on the left side for a 26-yard gain to the 16. Three runs broughtthe ball to the 1 where Schoen dove up the middle for the score. The pointafter was no good, making it 40-15 with 7:03 left in the game.

Riverside hosts L.B. Landry next Friday while St. Charles Catholic returnshome to play Grace King.

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